america. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] bret: next on "special report" deal or no deal, the u.s. opens up a checkbook to get a climate change agreement before president obama arrives in copenhagen. we will have a live ort from dren mark and all eyes are on the democrat from denmark that could stop the healthcare reform efforts and we have a look at how liberals are feeling left out of president obama's policies and guess who is watching the live feed from one of these? hint. it's not the good guys. all that, plus the fox all-stars, right here, right now. >> welcome to washington. i'm bret bret. the u.n. climate change conference spans 12 days, costs $215 million and belches more than 40 thousand tons of pollutants into the fragile eco-sphere, and so far the significant accomplishments stand at zero.

today the americans intensified getting some kind of deal on paper. major garrett reports from copenhagen. >> they will burn the midnight oil here even if it means adding a bit of carbon to the add moss fear. 193 nations trying desperately to strike a deal to limit future greenhouse gas emissions. >> the talks have been difficult. i know that our team along with many others are working around the clock to forge a deal. >> president obama sent his secretary of state to shake things up with an offer of u.s. help in building a $100 billion annual fund to pay developing nations to cut future pollution, a cash cow for the milking at least in theory, by the year 202o the u.s. offer evaporates, though if china doesn't open up its pollution cutting procedures to stronger international verification. u.s. officials say the day brought some movement on this front, but cautioned no deal was yet in hand. a top climate change democrat said chinese stubbornness could torpedo an agreement. >> it is important for china to

make a statement that ensures that the rest of the world knows that the transparency in their system will be one that can be realized. >> clinton pressed china with one of its own proverbs. >> when you are in a common boat, you have to cross the river peacefully together. well, we are in a common boat. >> it's also unclear how much u.s. taxpayers would fork over to curb pollution in china and other developing countries, a variable noted by the top u.n. climate negotiator. >> i'm looking keenly forward to hearing what the u.s. contribution to that is going to be. >> house speaker nancy pelosi here with dozens of other lawmakers pledged congressional backing for the $100 billion annual fund for developing countries. republicans said time out. >> one of the developing countries is china, so i guess we borrow the money from china, and then we give it to china. maybe that's what is being discussed in copenhagen, but the united states senate will have to have its say on.

that >> brittish prime minister gordon brown had his say after giving an environmental award to calderon, mexico's president. >> there are turning points with history that is expected to turn but fails to turn. i want this conference to be a turning point where history does turn. >> just after friday morning here. it is just after midnight, and things are still busy. president obama is due on the ground in a matter of hours. the question arises, why come here if a deal may not be struck? i asked the president's top advisor david axelrod that same question a few moments ago. here is the answer. >> i don't i don't think the prt has given up on achieving something valuable in copenhagen. we're certainly going with that intent. if others don't have the same intent, then we'll make less progress. >> if others, meaning china, a little bit of blame shifting preemptively. bret, back to you.

bret: major garrett live in copenhagen. thank you. are republicans in the congressional delegation in copenhagen say they were frozen out of the group's official news conference. marcia blackburn said she was told it was invitation only and soon realized that republicans were not invited. instead, they were bussed back to their hotel. a spokesman for nancy pelosi said there was so much media at the event, republicans could hold a press conference anyway. the latest fox news poll shows 63% of respondents believe that global warming is real. 33% do not. this past may, 69% were believers. in january of 2007, 82% bought the theory. join me for a special look at climate change, global warming or a lot of hot air. that's this sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern. a u.s. official tells fox news president obama will meet with russian president dimitry medvedev friday on the sidelines at the copenhagen conference.

the focus of the discussion will be a new strategic nuclear arms agreement to replace the stark treaty that expired earlier this month. earlier today, the russian foreign minister said u.s. negotiators need to accept deeper cuts an less intrusive verification measures in order to speed the talks along. well, the need for speed is also becoming the issue in the democrats' push to get healthcare reform before the senate before the christmas holiday. one speed bump turns out to be one of their own. chief washington correspondent jim angle tells us who it is. >> democratic senator ben nelson is saying he will vote with republicans to block a final vote on the healthcare bill unless he sees tighter language restricting federal funds from being spent on abortions, but he told fox news radio ann lincoln that that wouldn't be enough to satisfy his concerns >> there are substantive issues. that, alone, is a reason not to vote for closure. >> chloe cloture, meaning an end

to debate and moving to a final vote. nelson also seemed to reject the democratic leadership's push for a vote by christmas. >> i can't tell you that they couldn't come up with something that would be satisfactory on abortion between now and then and solve all the other issues i have raised to them, but i don't see how. i'm less interested in a deadline than i am in getting it right. >> nelson has raised several objections all along but his refusal to be swaibed is a roadblock for harry reid who is still trying to forge what democratic leaders concede is a balancing act. >> concession and balancing are parts of achieving a goal. within the democratic caucus, there are liberal and progressive members and we have to find the middle ground where they come together. >> of course, no one has seen the final bill they will be asked to vote on because senator reid has been working behind the scenes to cast what is called a manager's amendment which will contain all the compromises he is making in order to get the

necessary 60 votes. >> we don't know what kind of agreements, what kind of discussions were occurring behind those closed doors. >> even other democrats in the leadership have not seen the bill, much less republicans. >> how in the world can anybody tell their constituents that they are for the bill or against the bill until we have had a chance to eade it? to read it? it is mind boggling. but what the public does know has not been well received in one poll after another a new "wall street journal" poll out today found for the first time in its polling that more americans say they would aer this stick with the status quo on healthcare than pass the democrats' bill. in addition, 47% of those asked say they believe the bill is a bad idea. only 32% say it's a good idea. so the fed will focus on must-do spending issues until early saturday. then senator reid will set in motion a series of votes on

healthcare over the following days. some of them scheduled well after midnight. republicans, of course, will try to slow things down, so the public can get a closer look at the details before the final vote, and late today, bret, our trish turner on capitol hill caught up with senator ben nelson and he gave us this brief progress report. >> i know the focus has been on abortion recently, but i have raised other serious concerns and those are being addressed as well, even as we are gathered here. >> so i think that means still working on it but not quite there. bret. bret: it will be a long week. >> could be. bret: there was a testy exchange dealing with the issue of time today on the senate floor. it started with minnesota democrat al franken interrupting connecticut independent joe lieberman. >> i'm sorry. the senator has spoken for ten minutes. >> i wonder if i could ask

unanimous consent for just an additional moment. >> in mica pass ti as senator from -- in my capacity as senator from minnesota, i object. >> really? >> don't take it personally. >> i have been around here 27 years. it is the first time i have seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks, and i must say that i don't know what's happening here in this body, but i think it's wrong. i'm sure that time is urgent here, but i doubt if it would be that urgent. bret: well, sarah palin dissing the man who made her a household name. we report. you decide. will the new jobs bill put american households back to work? . gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when.

gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

bret: on the fox news job hunt,

a new job bill that some say is a sequel to the stimulus. wendell goler takes a fair and balancesed look. >> for most house democrats it took years to save the country from another depression. >> we added jobs in a fiscal i fiscally sound way. republicans called it a failed stimulus package likely to produce more debt than jobs. >> this is irresponsible. there needs to be a plan put in place that will bring our budget under control and in the green. >> the more than 150 billion dollar bill sweeped through the house by a handful of votes. 38 democrats voted against it citing concerns about cost and debt but majority whip jim clyburn considers the bill an investment. >> until we get the economy up and moving again, we will take the deficit. >> the bill is intended to create jobs. the biggest share is for highway construction and repair but also

money to upgrade amtrak, build new schools an modernize wastewater treatment plants. slightly half is for people who lost their jobs, funding six more months of unemployment benefits and state medicaid costs. supporters called it proof they understand the tough times. >> we know what your loss is. we walk in your shoes. >> but critics say the first stimulus bill failed to produce the jobs that were promised and this was throwing good money after bad. >> right now, we've got double digit unemployment. we've got red ink as far as the eye can see. permanent bailouts, and no long-term plan to put any of this back in shape. >> the congressional budget office says just a quarter of the first stimulus bill has been spent so far. the vice president is both monitoring it and buying the good news. today in georgia, he announced funding for a high-speed inter net program. >> today we will announce $200

million in grants and over the next 75 days we will announce another $2 billion in loans. >> the day's economic news pointed to a continued slow recovery, a slight uptick in first time unemployment filings but a larger than expected rise in the index of leading economic indicators. only half of the cost of the jos bill will be added to the budget deficit. the other half will be covered by repaid bank bailout money but republicans feel we would be better off with no jobs bill and better using the bailout money to pay down the federal debt. bret: wendell, thank you. it was a bloomie day -- a gloomy day on wall street as the dow dropped 143 30eu7b9ss and s&p 500 lost 13 and change and nasdaq lost nearly 27. ben bernanke is one step closer to keeping his job. peter barnes is here to explain. good evening, peter. >> hello, bret. bernanke's nomination for a second term as chairman of the fed heads to the full senate for a vote likely in january, this after the senate banking

committee voted 16-7 this morning to approve his re nomination. now, the vote came a day after "time" magazine named him person of the year saying he helped prevent the great depression 2.0, but that did not sway one democrat and six republicans who voted against him this morning. they are angry at him for the financial bubble, for the financial crisis that came after it popped, including all those big bank bailouts. one senator mad even over his "time" magazine cover. >> chairman bernanke may wonder if he really wants to be honored by an organization that has previously named people like josef stalin twice, yasser arafat, adolf hitler, the ayatollah khomeini vladimir putin, richard nixon twice as their person of the year. >> chairman bernanke has more

hobbing work to do. a handful of senators have announced plans to filibuster his renomination when it comes to the floor next month. bret. bret: peter, thank you. citigroup says it will suspend foreclosures an evictions for 30 days around the holidays. the program will run from friday through january 17 and will provide a temporary break for about 4 #-rbgz 000 borrowers. liberals want the president to give them a break and stick to the policies that got him elected, and we'll tell you what's wrong with american drone aircraft that enables the bad guys to see what they are not supposed to see.

bret: mike mullen told afghan tribal leaders today that they have to start delivering results in the fight against widespread

corruption and mullen told u.s. forces at a former taliban stronghold they will soon have afghan troops and police to patrol the area they have seized. his trip comes amid word that congress is investigating allegations u.s. tax dollars are being paid to warlords and the taliban in order to ensure safe passage for supplies headed to afghanistan. pakistani intelligence says two suspected u.s. drone attacks killed 17 people in a tribal region along the afghan border. meanwhile, a senior defense official tells fox news that problems with insurgents hacking into video feeds from the drones has been resolved. steve centanni has details. >> drones are the weapon of choice for afghanistan and pakistan and iraq. they hover high and silent near the undetectable areas and send back realtime sid quo, and when a target is located, they

swoop in and let loose with missiles. , a stealthy andage agile and versatile weapon but not without sulker inabilities. the video they send to combat troops on the ground were being intercepted by iranian-backed insurgents in iraq, using a russian made computer program called sky-gabber. it is a niche capability that can take the signals being sent up the drones and down the drones down to control stations or satellites and you can intercept it and display it. >> the u.s. military found images from the drones on laptops belonging to captured shiite militants. the danger is that insurgents can learn what areas the drones are watching and take evasive action, removing the element of surprise from a u.s. military operation. >> they can see that they are being watched, and then it gives them a heads up. it is a tipper for them. the fact is if they run out of the building and jump into a car, then the predator is going to follow them, so they are really in the final moments of

their survivability. in reality, it may often be too late for militants being tracked by a drone. soon after they intercept any data, the missiles are already flying, but others say drones also send signals with a longer range, giving militants extra time to escape or take cover, and one expert described the sky grabber program as intercepting rather than hacking, even though it is a potential threat to u.s. operations. >> it is much like police use radios to help them deal with crime scenes, and criminals found out that they could use police scanners to keep track of what the police were doing. >> the pentagon says it first discovered the problem late last year and has added extra encryption to the drones to make sure no sensitive information falls into enemy hands. meantime, the vulnerabilities of the drones are constantly being e assessed as the military o focuses more attention than ever on cyber warfare. bret: steve, thanks. in in other world headlines,

pakistan's supreme court has thrown out an amnesty law protecting president zahdari and his top aides from corruption charges. a senior opposition leader says zahdari should resign a presidential spokesman says that will not happen. another court asked the court not to deport five american citizens held on suspicions of terrorism. the men were arrested earlier this month. if amtrak followed the letter of a new law, it would have some very unhappy passengers. we'll tell you why, next in the grapevine. and you will not be happy when you learn what you have been paying for when members of congress travel. call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

bret: and now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. a presidential stop with hicker, beers, swanky hotels and gourmet dinners are some of the expenses lawmakers traveling abroad have passed on to taxpayers. "the wall street journal" reports that legislators have been taking more trips paid for by the government since a corruption scandal in 2005 led to restrictions on privately-funded travel. the cost to taxpayers, $13 million last year, a 70% jump from 2005. one particular trip to scotland for 12 house members featured tours of historic buildings, while some shopped for scotch whiskey and others visited the

hotel spa. the trip was designed for lawmakers to meet foreign officials an european legislators. fiscally conservative blue dog coalition founder democrat john tanner has taken 7 previous trips for that conference. their total reported costs for tanner and his cotravelers came to $575,000, not including travel on military planes. there is a lot of concern about bills being pushed through congress too quickly with not enough time for members to read what is actually in the bills. one particular part of the massive spending bill that president obama signed into law late wednesday could have used a proofreader. it included the provision that requires passengers who carry firearms aboard amtrak trains to be locked in boxes during their journey. passengers, not the guns. the air or was made during the enrolling process when the final version of the bill is transferred to parchment paper. the good news is that amtrak has six months to implement the new

policy and by then, the house and senate will have had time to fix the mistake, so no one will be forced to travel in boxes in a boxcar. finally, former alaska governor and republican vice presidential nominee sarah palin made a potential political fashion faux pas while vacationing with her family in hawaii. palin was photographed wearing a visor from john mccain's failed presidential bid with the words mccain for president blacked out in magic marker. palin was mccain's running mate in that campaign. she tells politico she was just trying to be incognito to keep photographers away from ler and her husband. quote" i am so sorry if people took this silly incident the wrong way. i adore john mccain." our top story now at bottom of the hour. democratic senator ben nelson says he will block a final vote on healthcare reform legislation if he does not see tighter

language limiting federal funding for abortions. the prospect of a bill with abortion restrictions and without government-run insurance is just one of the complaints from disillusioned liberals about president obama. correspondent james rosen looks at the core supporters feeling left behind. >> if you live long enough, all things can happen. i now find myself in complete agreement with dr. howard dean, who says that we should stop this bill in its tracks. >> republican dplee at squabbling among democrats over healthcare reform, pitting liberals against moderates an increasingly the obama white house. in "the washington post" a former d.n.c. chairman denounced the latest senate compromise as the beltway mentality wirn any bill becomes a victory. this has now become an insurance company's bill. >> well, governor dean, it is not everything i want it to be, either, but how could we in good conscience explain to 30 million

americans who would is health insurance for the first time in their life like judy down in illinois. i'm sorry, we won't be able to get you health insurance this time around. we couldn't get everything we wanted. >> but the co-chair of the congressional progressive caucus said he would oppose the senate's version in conference and displeasure with liberals see as president obama's passivity or active collusion in the healthcare bargaining extends beyond the ranks of professional politicians. >> pass this at your peril, senators, and sign it at yours, mr. president. >> sei owvment backed candidate obama last year, and now they seem nevertheless to want things put back on them. president obama must remember his own words from the campaign when he stood shoulder to shoulder with the president during his hard-fought campaign, andy stern, s exiu president,

blogged this morning, but he might fight lick hell to deliver real and meaningful reform. >> what i want the president to do is to work with the conferees on the issues that he has said from the very beginning are important to him. we need his moral persuasion, and we need his personal involvement. >> at the white house, the president' aides denied he took liberal support. >> i have never heard him say something as silly as that in six years. >> later today, the juggler of democratic factions, bill clinton weighed in. in a statement, he urged democrats not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good and added "take it from someone who knows. these chances don't come around every day. allowing this effort to fall short now would be a colossal blunder." bret: james, thank you. two republican congressmen say the government accountability office has opened an investigation into use of taxpayer dollars by the community group acorn. lamar smith of texas and darryl

issa of california demanding a separate f.b.i. probe. meanwhile, the justice department has asked for reversal of a court ruling preventing congress from banning federal funds for the organization. acorn has been under intense scrutiny since undercover video shows worker advising prospective clients about how to break the law. the u.s. and china spar over global warming. we will talk about what is going on at copenhagen climate conference when the fox all-stars join me after the break. @=hññ?y@?

>> for the next two days, i don't want to talk about how to fun money we haven't agreed to fund but to make the agreement that that's what we're going to do >> this is a critical issue.

i don't think the president has given up on achieving something valuable in copenhagen. we're certainly going with that intent. if others don't have the same intent, then we'll make less progress, but we believe we can. >> well everything the president is heading to copenhagen for the u.n. climate change conference, but what exactly will the u.s. sign on to? at the end of this week? let's bring in our panel, fred barnes, executive editor of the weekly standard, mara liasson, national public radio, and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. mar a, what's the expectation? >> well, we don't know? it is a high-wire act. it is falling apart one minute and maybe coming back together another minute. what you saw hillary clinton doing was calling china's bluff saying we're going to put serious money on the table but the chinese have to put real limits on their emissions and so far, they haven't done that. i think that at the minimum, they'll have some kind of

agreement on deforestation, which is not a huge thing to buy home, but it's unclear if they're going to get the kind of deal that includes eel money for developing countries in exchange for them to do something about their emissions. >> i think copenhagen will go the way of kyoto, and that means nothing of importance will come out for a simple reason. the american people aren't stupid, as they said in 1999, by a vote of 97-0 in the senate to the clinton administration, they are saying to the obama administration, and it's listening. the american people will not accept an agreement where we have serious cuts in carbon emissions imposed on the united states which will mean a serious constriction of the u.s. economy, a lowering of our standard of living if the chinese, who are the largest co2 polluters on the planet, and the indians who, are rising in their pollution, increasing in their pollution, do not accept limits as they will not, because the result of that is, a, there is

no effect on warming, whatever coal plant america shuts down, the chinese and indians are going to open, and so there will be no effect on the climate, and b, it will, in effect, be a huge transfer of wealth and jobs out of the west, out of the american economy into china and india, and adding on to that, the clinton proposal of a fund of $100 billion a year of which america will ultimately contribute probably 1/3. it always does at these international agreements, from our treasury, our money from taxpayers, directly into the treasuries of the poorer countries, the majority of whom are cleptocrasies and some like china and india are lenders and americans will not accept that. nothing of importance will we sign out there. >> senator john kyle of arizona, a republican, said that it makes

no sense, because here we would be borrowing money from china and then we would be, on the other hand, be sending them these monies to stop global warming allegedly. i mean, it is just a crazed idea in the first place. what i was struck by is something charles talked about, and that's the cleptocrasie angle. you have 130 developing countries in third world countries and they're there because they want money. moralis, the president of bolivia is demanding reparations from the west! and the united states, so they gave a standing ovation for hugo chavez when he attacked capitalism and praised socialism. of course, they want the money that capitalism produces, and, look, we know from the history of foreign aid since world war ii what foreign aid does, it's money that rarely goes into development but it corrupts the governments to get the money. obviously, this would, too, and for hillary clinton, the secretary of state to talk

about, as charles said, not just $100 billion, it's $100 billion a year, to funnel money down to these countries is crazed. the american public is not for it. the science now of global warming is in doubt. further in doubt now that we learn from russia that the coldest parts of russia, a huge part of russia, which is a huge part of the earth, the calculations from those on global warming from throws temperature stations were not included in the figuring on global warming by the folks in england and at the u.n bret: mara, a senior aide said on the way over "no matter what happens in copenhagen, the president will push hard for legislation in the senate," even though it appears to be stalled. >> it certainly does appear to be stalled. i think he can push for t i don't know if he will get anything for his efforts. bret: what about the push for healthcare? >> it stands a better chance of passing than climate change

bills, but the administration should learn that it shouldn't get too far out ahead than its own congress. that's what happened with kyoto. the kyoto treaty was roundly rejected. they won't go to copenhagen and agree to these things that it knows it can't pass. that's why the president has been setting goals so he can do something that is symbolic, but that's how he can show leadership because he can't guarantee senate action. bret: dead in the senate? absolutely, since it is the same story that happened in the late '90's. if the chinese and indians and others who are developing will not match our cuts, it makes no sense economically or even scientifically. we'll have no effect on the climate. even if you accept all of the climate science, and global warming as a reality, so it has no effect and it is a transfer of wealth. it will never be accepted, and the chinese were clear today, they are not interested in

arresting their own development on which the legitimacy of the regime depends. it is a dictatorship. it depends on a prosperous nation to stay in power. it is not going to jeopardize that in the name of the speculative warming claims, and if it doesn't, nothing is going to hahn. bret: mara, did the white house consider not going? >> all along it considered not going. bret: i mean, as late as this week? >> yeah, i think so, but once he committed to going and to -- going is now defined as american leadership. i don't see how he cannot go because he doesn't think much is going to come out of it. >> look, american leadership in the wong direction. look, you talk more about obama doesn't want to get out in front of the democratic majorities in the house. how about the american people? how about the american people? i can't think of a another time in the history of america where the two biggest initiatives of an administration that they're pushing relentless were so unpopular. the american people have ejected the healthcare bill, obama care

and they have rejected cap and trade as well, and yet the administration fights on to get these things. >> that's good segue. healthcare is up next, but first join me for a special look at climate change this weekend. global warming or a lot of hot air, this sunday 9:00 p.m. eastern time. i have been drinking a lot of hot tea, sucking on lozenges, my voice will be better. another day, another set of problems for the healthcare bill. we will talk about today's developments in three minutes.

>> it's a laundry list of concerns that i have. as you continue to go through the list, keep in mind, we

haven't gotten the c.b.o. numbers back from that package, so that alone would keep me in limbo until i have had a chance to see those. bret: senator ben nelson from nebraska. he is on the fence according to everybody on capitol hill. a couple of big issues, abortion funding, federal funding for abortions arc big issue for him. also as you heard there, the congressional budget office has not come out with its score, at least we isn't heard anything about it, about the reid plan, the proposal that no one has seen, so what about healthcare reform? we're back with our panel. mara. >> well, as ben nelson said, he's waiting for c.b.o. and we had heard we would get the numbers on monday. bret: we weren't going to get them. >> the senate was going to get them. i meant we, the american people. this is an amazing thing. when you need 60 votes to pass anything, and you only have 60 democrats, any one senator can be very, very relevant whenever they want to be. first it was joe lieberman. now it's ben nelson.

they are struggling to come come up with some kind of abortion language that he can accept. now, there is a language on the house bill, the stupak amendment which i think he likes. i don't know if you could pass that through the senate but there has to be a version of that to get him. in the past people thought if you loose one democrat, maybe you can get olympia snowe but that doesn't look likely at the moment. this thing right now is all about ben nelson, and i don't know what they're going to be able to present to him. bret: charles, in the past conversations, you have been very confident that senator reid would be able to get this through. are you less so today? do you think that perhaps there is a chance that this is not going to happen? >> i don't. we heard nelson say he has a laundry list. it is a christmas list, and it's holiday time. he watched mary landrieu of louisiana come home with $300 million, which is now called the louisiana purchase, to get her vote on chloe cloture a couple of weeks ago. he watched joe lieberman watch

obama and reid put a stake through the public option, and killed it in order to win lieberman's vote, and nelson has his list. i'm sure he's a principled man and i don't want to sound cynical, but he wants something on abortion. i mean, the more i look at his objections, the distance between what he wants and what is offered is rather narrow. i can't imagine it can't be finessed and then he says he has other stuff he cares about. well, i'm sure they're going to look at u.s. treasury and find the funds to satisfy his other list and he will come onboard. it is inconceivable that over these small differences that one senator is going to hold out and kill the whole bill. i may be wrong, but perhaps i'm not cynical enough. bret: even if he's looking at polls in nebraska that are completely upside-down on this issue for democrat and healthcare? >> but he can get language on abortion which is at least as

strong as current law, and i can't understand why that would not covering him on the abortion issue. >> every senator gets to be a hero in this. he can win for the pro-life forces of nebraska. >> it was easier for democrats to dump the medicare buy-in and public option than it is to deal with abortion because it is a gut-level emotional issue for democrats. the democratic party is the pro-abortion party. they did it knowing they would get rid of it in a conference or something. >> maybe. >> look, nelson is interesting because of this -- he voted against all the funding for the healthcare bill. he voted with republicans, against the tax hikes, and opposed the amendments on the tax hikes and is against all the funding. you would think that intellectually that would make it hard, it would be difficult for him to ultimately vote for the bill. well, stranger things have happened and it happened this time. my calculation is simply this --

that when a president in what is essentially a tie, when the president steps in, the tie is broken in favor of the president, so i still think obama care will pass the senate, too. bret: on a bill this big, on a vote this big that everybody is going to remember, 1/6 of the u.s. economy, can a senator go in and say i voted for cloture to end debate and vote against the bill and get away with it? >> yes, he can, and i will tell you why. there is no doubt that -- bret: and get away with it? >> yes and here is why. it depends on how tough your race s ben nelson isn't up for this year. there is a lot of things that are going to happen before he stands for re-election. there will be ads unagainst him saying a vote on cloture equals a vote onto bill. it has already started. there was a big debate a few years ago about judicial filibusters and republicans made the strong point and a lot of these conservative states, voters heartsdz heard this loud and clear, things deserve an up and down vote on the floor, in this case judges around now

democrats say this deserves an up or down vote on the floor. you can vote to get it on the floor and then vote your conscience for final passage. this used to be upside-down when we with talking about judges. you know, i still think in the end, when you're talking about one lone holdout unless he wants to be the democrats who killed healthcare reform and it's unclear, this thing will still pass. bret: you have written about this, something this big, this partisan, with no bipartisan support. >> none whatsoever. bret: for a major bill. >> every bill we have seen, medicare, medicaid, civil rights, whatever, over the last 50 years has been a bipartisan bill that was also popular, popular with the american people. there is a pew poll that shows folks that don't know about the bill are reasonly divided but those who follow it and know something about it, not a lot, but something about it, they are two to one against it, and yet democrats act like this is something that the american people demanding. they aren't. bret: we haven't talked a lot

about it because a lot of people don't think it's real is this liberal backlash. while it's very loud, you believe that they will all fold in the end? >> well, the ones outside the congress will be lowbdzer than howard deans, the huffingtons an theel other wing nuts will be against it and rail. if you're a democrat in the house, in the congress and you're in the left and you have a chance, as i've said again and again, to seize control of the 1/6 of the american economy and you can later amend it, fudge it, you are turning insurance companies into utilities which is a way of getting proxy control of the healthcare system, this is an opportunity you're not going to get again. you're within an inch of getting it and you're going to sink it over a public option which is e dunn dant and unnecessary, i think not, but it will be lowbdz. bret: that's it for the panel. stay tuned that pressure may be building on the obama administration. for a new generation.

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bret: finally tonight, being under the microscope every day all the time can take its toll. and one administration official apparently has his own way of coping. >> i'm trying to figure out how he handles it so well. i think i know. show the footage, liz? >> lending back. >> listen to the question. take the drink. >> does president obama believe. >> prime minister gordon apparently flying in there two days. >> can we go behind the podium? >> apparently just a slow. [ laughter ] bret: very smooth. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report." i will see you if i'm back tomorrow. fair, balanced, and unafraid. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--